Vent cleaner for piano players



W. W. A. KRUCK.

VENT CLEANER FOR PIANO PLAYERS.

APPLICATION FILED 00?*19, 1920.

1,438,923. Patented Dec. 12, 1922..

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

unfall HI l I l I mi I 2 Imm .y

W. W. A. KRUCK.

VENT CLEANER FOR PIANO PLAYERS.

APPLICATION FILED oc?. I9, 1920.

EEIs-SHEEI a.

Patented De@.12,1922.

Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

PAT-ENT OFFICE.

WALTER W. A. KRUCK, OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY.

VENT CLEANER FOR PIANO PLAYERS.

Application filed October 19, 1920. Serial No. 417,983.

To all 107.10m t may concern.'

Be it known that I, lVAL'rnR 1V. A. Knock, a citizen ot' the United States, residing in Camden, New Jersey, have invented cert-ain Improvements in V ent Cleaners 'for .Piano Players, ot which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to provide means for cleaning the vents of a piano player without dismantling the player.

A. further object ot' the invention is to provide means whereby a series ot vents can be cleaned. at the same time. y

A still further object ot' the invention is to make the vent tube and cleaner tube iin one piece.

These objects I attain in the following manner, re terence being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

i a transverse sectional view on the line 1 1, Fig. 2, illustrzvlting my improved vent cleaner tor piano players;

F2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 2 2, Fig. 1;

Fig. il is an enlarged sectional view showing a combined vent tube and cleaner;

Fig. et is a view showing a inoeiiication of the means for operating the cleaner;

Fig. sectional. view showing my invention agplied to a piano player having three banks ot unit valves;

Fig. G 'is a view showing the cleaner made separate :trom the vent tube and located in a. diilferent position trom the device illustrated in Fig. and

Fig, 7 is a. det-affixed perspective view ot (he vent tube.

.ltel'erring to the drawings, l. the 'trout board oi' a piano player having passages et thereir. 2 is the primary valve box extending the inll length ot the player, as shown inr Fig. 2. il are the individual primary valves. in. the valve box are separate passages et communicating with the passages 4"', and the valves 3 control the air to these passages. 5 is a vacuum chamber common to all oi the valves. 6 are separate passages leading to the vacuum chamber from pipes 7 opening at the tracker bar S trom which the perforated paper 9 is passed from the roll 10 to the roll 11.

12 are diaphragms between th.n rhaniber 5 and the e (E. ln a passage lil are vents 11 l exceedingly small vent openings 15. The main object of the invention is to provide means for keeping the vent openings clear at all times.

The vent 14. is in the form of a tube, as shown in Fig. 3, and extends through the partitions 16 and the lower wail 17 ot the primary valve box. The tube is out away at 18 so as to allow air to flow from the passage 6 into the vent and through the vent opening 15. In the lower portion of the vent tube is a plunger 19 from which extends a stem 20 pointed at its outer end and arranged to pass into and through the vent opening 15 so as to clear the vent opening oi any foreign matter that may be retained therein.

2l is a pznftition formed in the vent tube and the stein passes through this partition, as shown in li 3, and has a disk 22 thereon, closing the passage through which the stem extends when the cleaning device is out ot action. Mounted between the partition 21 and the plunger 19 is a coiled spring 23, which retracts the plunger and its stem when released from the operating meohz'inism. There is one oi" these' devices tor each key. They may be operated by hand individually, but it is preferable to operate them in unison through the medium oi a .longitudinal bar 9A, which is located under all olf the plungers 19. rIhe bar 21 rests on arms 2o of levers 25 pivoted at 27 to brackets 2S secured to the board 29. The levers 25 are connected to an operating bar 2l() which attached to an arni 3l oi" a bellows EL operated by a pneumatic key at the key board through the tube 33, Fig. 2. )ther means of operating this bar El() may be devised without departing troni. the essential 'features olf the invention.

In Fig. 4, a bar is shown, which extends through the side 'frame 3ft of the piano player, provided with a push button 85 by which it can be moved longitudinally to actuate all of the plungers 19.

In Fig. 5. I have illustrated a series of primary valve boxes 2. There is one box for each note of the piano. The boxes are preferably arranged in tiers, as shown. 3 is the valve. 12a is the diaphragm. 14I is the vent having` a vent opening at the end. 19L is the plunger to which is attached the stem for cleaning the vent. Q4. are three longitudinal bars, which operate the plungers. 25L1 levers, which actunte the bers fill-af. These levers ere controlled by rods 302L in the manner shown in lling. 2.

ln lfig. (i, l here illustrated u slight ineditcntion of the Vent, in which the vent tube lt is seperate from the tube ltc contdiningI the plunger l9". The device is located in the primary vulve box 2b at s di'llerent point from thet shown'in Fig. 5. The plunger und spring :ire similar in construction to the plunger and spring illustrated in Fig. The plunger illustrated in Fig'. G is in such position that it een be actuated by removing; n front board troni the player piano.

ln operetinge pieno player, the perlforated music rolb vwhich is passed over the trucker bar 8, is mede O't paper und 'the friction removes particles Ot' libre from. the pspen These particles, in time? collect in the Vent openings und prevent the proper operation of the mechanism. lt has been customary to dismantle e portion of the mechanism so that uocees could be had to the Vent openings.

By my invention the vent openings can be cleaned Without dismantling the player und Without the necessity ot callingl in a skilled workmen to pei-'torni tbe operation.

l cleini:

l. The combination o't u pieno pluyer having un nir pussege with u vent located in trie passsge und having e smell openingat one end; e cylinder located in en extension et the passa-ge; a plunger mounted in the cylinder and having e stern extending through the end oi the cylinder and close to the opening in the Vent; sind e spring located in the cylinder to retain the plunger, and its stein, clear of the Vent, seid plunger being in such u position that it een pushed into the cylinder to allow its spindle to pass through the opening in the vent.

2 The combination in e Vent cleaner jtor pieno players, et e cylinder; :i plunger in thecylinder; u, stein secured to the plunger extendingthrough the end of the cylinder; u dislr on the stein outside ot the cylinder;

und a springl located on the Cylinder, be-v tween 'the inner end of the plunger and un extension thereon5 by which the plunger is pushed into the Cylinder.

The combination in a pieno player, of e series o'i vulve bones having independent pesseges; e vent in each passage; plunger located opposite each vent und having e stein arranged to be projected through :L Trent opening; spring; for retraeting euch plunger; e longitudinal bur e; riding past all of seid plungers; un operating' ber; levers between the tufo bars wherebyH on the longitudinal movement oit the operating bur, Jthe other' ber Will inove the plungers; und e single mechanism actuating' the operatingbar. ,Y

4t. ln a, combined vent" und cleaner ttor pieno players, the combination oit e, tube redilced et one end und perforated ut seid end and open et the opposite end; lateral openings in the tube; u pzuftiton; u, plunger projecting` into the open end of the tube and having; e stern arranged to pees through the vent opening; und a spring between thc plunger and the partition.

Wfl/HEER W'. A. KRUCK. 

